Welcome to the 2018 edition of Rising Stars, shots’ annual young talent showcase. Now in its third year, the event is returning to where it first began, in sunny Los Angeles, where, thanks to our sponsors Framestore, GPN and Radioaktive, we’ll be celebrating the next generation of creative movers and shakers. As always, criteria for entry was simple: prospective Stars needed to be aged 30 or under (as of 19 October 2018), working in the creative industries and based on the west coast of America.

From composers and creatives to directors, DPs, CG artists and editors, our inbox was flooded with impressive entries, making it a tough job to whittle them down – and that wasn’t counting the candidates we’d already identified through our own research. But we whittled, and debated, and occasionally flung things across the room in an impassioned way to come up with the final 20, who we now present to you in a custom Slate.

Within the Slate, you’ll find a profile of each Star along with a reel of their work highlights, any of which would be a source of pride for an established talent. The fact they have been produced by individuals at the start of their careers is, we think, nothing short of inspiring. Watch, marvel and make notes.

shots is, and has always been, about showcasing brilliant, innovative and original work, as well as the creatives and craftspeople behind it. Our pages are regularly devoted to titans of the industry, but it’s the up-and-comers in whose hands the future of creativity lies. We hope you’ll agree that this particular constellation of Stars have a bright and shiny future.